This morning my back inner tube suddenly popped as I was riding along, and when I took it off to fix the puncture it literally tore in half in my hands (difficult to repair). Nothing had come through the tyre so I guess that the rubber of the inner tube had simply perished over time? I don't want this happening to the front tyre going round a corner so I'm going to replace both tubes proactively. How long should they last? Does anyone replace them on a schedule?

I have successfully inflated tubes from bikes from the 80's. Tubes could be newer, but the tyres were of the original era. Tubes are out of sunlight (unlike tyres) and in a relatively stable atmosphere (enclosed in tyre) so should last ages. Maybe yours had a manufacturing fault.

I generally only replace mine when I have to patch next to a patch or there is valve problems or multiple holes.

bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

eeksll wrote:Did it rip cause it was breaking down or did it rip because it stuck to the tyre?

I have ripped a tube because it was stuck to the inside of the tyre (I believe the solution to this is to use some talc powder)

Yes I always use talcum powder too. I took it off and pumped it up a bit to see where the hole was, found it, deflated the tube, roughened the area around the hole ready for the patch, and it tore in half.